Michael Russo's Sunday Insider: The hits keep coming

Ronald Martinez, Getty Images

The NHL is considering whether there needs to be a rule against hits to the head.

Dangerous collisions are forcing the league and its players to contemplate changes to "that's just hockey" response.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: November 15, 2009 - 8:01 AM

A few weeks ago on TSN's "Off the Record," Philadelphia Flyers executive Bobby Clarke said he wouldn't want to play in today's NHL because it's "too dangerous."

Let that sink in for a second.

Gritty, gutsy Bobby Clarke, legendary captain of the big, bad Broad Street Bullies, wouldn't want to play today because it's "too dangerous."

That's priceless ... and petrifying.

There are more than 100 NHLers currently out with injuries. Players are bigger, faster and stronger, and with the recent crackdown on obstruction and hindering of the goaltender's ability to play the puck, players are getting clobbered at full speed.

At last week's general managers meeting in Toronto, NHL execs finally took a serious look at the amount of "heads shots" being inflicted. A committee has been formed to determine if there finally needs to be a rule against shots to the head.

The problem is with every shot to the head is the subsequent debate: Was it a good hockey hit? Was he hit with a shoulder or an elbow?

That has always seemed like an absurd argument. A few years ago, the NHL made all players remove the hard plastic from their elbow pads because if a player was elbowed in the face, it was like being hit by a brick.

But most shoulder pads still have that hard plastic cover, so why should a shoulder to the head be any less damaging than an elbow?

It'd be nice if the NHL Players' Association -- a bit distracted right now as the union crumbles -- would actually protect its membership.

But the NHL must also get serious about sending messages to offending players. The inconsistency when it comes to discipline is ridiculous. The fact that Flyers captain Mike Richards' blindside hit to the head of Florida's David Booth was deemed a good hockey hit is sickening.

It was an outrageous hit. Suspend him for 10 games and see if it happens again.

Tampa Bay Lightning coach Rick Tocchet, one of the great power forwards of his day, questioned whether the league should again allow players to police themselves by getting rid of the instigator rule.

"You're getting more guys willing to run a guy with no regard," Tocchet said. "Back in the day, if you had a Derek Boogaard and you ran around, you had to answer to him no matter what. Now, there's ramifications -- a lot of fines and suspensions against a Boogaard, so he can't put the law in his own hands.

"I remember [in the late '90s], I kneed Stevie Yzerman. Whether it was a questionable hit or not, the bottom line is I got a five-minute major and I knew my next shift I'd have Joey Kocur coming after me and I had to fight him. Nowadays, that doesn't happen."

Players also should be responsible for protecting themselves.

Hall of Famer Mark Messier has collaborated with Cascade Helmets to create the M11, a helmet designed to reduce concussions.

Six players, including former Wild winger Stephane Veilleux, wear the helmet. Six out of 690! A seventh will likely try the helmet upon his eventual return from a concussion -- the Wild's Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

"It's comfy all around the head," Veilleux said. Asked why more players don't wear it, Veilleux said, "I don't know. It's stupid. I think hockey players get used to certain kinds of equipment and they stick to it until they retire."

Some have suggested the helmet's not more popular because of the unconventional look -- it kind of juts out in the back like a biker's helmet.

"I look OK, don't I?" laughed Veilleux. "That's not why any player should wear a helmet anyhow. With all the shots to the head and concussions, this could be the answer."

Plus, it's comfy.

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